Game & Watch

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The Game & Watch series was a line of approximately 59 handheld electronic games made by Nintendo and created by Gunpei Yokoi from 1980 to 1991. They each featured a single game that could be played on an LCD screen, in addition to a clock and an alarm. Some of the titles available in Game & Watch format were games varying from Mickey Mouse to Balloon Fight as well as several Nintendo staples such as Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda and Mario Bros.. For a more complete list, see List of Game & Watch games.

1 Overview
2 History
3 Legacy
- 3.1 Super Smash Bros. Melee
- 3.2 Evolution
4 External links

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Overview

The Game & Watch consoles were small, handheld devices with a - what would be considered by today's standards - quite simplistic button layout. Most devices had one direction pad (D-pad) comprised of Up, Down, Left and Right buttons on the left hand side and usually one, sometimes two, buttons on the right. On the top right hand side of the machine there can be found three buttons: Alarm, Time & Game (Though some models have an extra, fourth button, 'Game 2'). Different models were manufactured, with some consoles having two screens and a clam-shell design.

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History

Nintendo's Game & Watch units were eventually superseded by handheld game systems such as Nintendo's now popular Game Boy. The disadvantage of the Game & Watch was that each unit was only able to play essentially one game, due to the LCD display being pre-printed with the images necessary for one game. Nintendo's Game Boy and other successors were able to play many different games (via interchangable cartridges), as well as using a more flexible and sophisticated dot matrix display and offering higher sound quality.

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Legacy

The Game & Watch made handhelds vastly popular. Many toy companies copied the footsteps the Game & Watch left behind, such as Tiger Electronics and their Star Wars themed games. In Russia Elektronika also made similar games.

Game & Watch games have become highly collectable, and collector websites such as Nintendo Thumbs started to appear in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The Nintendo Game & Watch series is one of the most popular handhelds available for collection.

Many collectors have also discovered that Nintendo Game & Watch was issued under different trademarks in different countries, resulting in many different types of boxes for the games itself. These have become rare and are also collectable.

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Super Smash Bros. Melee

In 2001, the character that must be saved in Fire and Parachute was given an official name, Mr. Game & Watch, in the GameCube game Super Smash Bros. Melee. The Game & Watch system is also Mr. Game & Watch's special level; the level is referred to in the game as Flat Zone, a location in the larger Superflat World.

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Evolution

A typical Game & Watch game was horizontally oriented, with the action buttons on either side of the screen. While the original Game Boy and Game Boy Color were vertically oriented (with the controller and buttons under the screen), the original Game Boy Advance was horizontally oriented. Thus, the GBA's horizontal orientation could be seen as reminiscent of the horizontally oriented, single screen Game & Watch games. Nintendo again returned to the horizontal design with the Game Boy Micro.

As mentioned before, many Game & Watch games utilized a multi-screen format. The legacy of this design lives on with the Nintendo DS system. Not only is the use of dual screens reminiscent of the Game & Watch games, so is the clamshell design.

The Game & Watch games are getting a renewal with the Game & Watch Gallery series of games for the Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance. They feature the original ports, as well as new, modernized versions.

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